Bruises
by strawhatsandmeat
Summary: In school, Zoro notices these strange bruises on the back of his best friend, Luffy's, arm. His thoughts began to wander, and with each question, the terrible feeling in his stomach deepens. His friends, though more slowly, began to notice as well, and the more they think, the more the bruises aren't the most disturbing thing anymore... [Warnings: Implied abuse and strong language]
1. Zoro

It was in Algebra when Zoro noticed for the first time.

Zoro then looked up to the front row on the far right, where his best friend, Monkey D. Luffy was sitting.

He was obviously bored, there was no doubt about it. It might have just been his severe ADHD, but the teen couldn't sit still for five seconds.. The man-child's pencil was rhythmically drumming on the desk. The teacher sent his pupil an annoyed look, but continued droning dully about angles. Both combined made Zoro incredibly drowsy, which wasn't uncommon, and was about ten seconds away from a power nap.

That's when Zoro noticed it and no longer did he feel like sleeping.

On the back of Luffy's thin arm was sickening purple bruises. Luffy rarely ever had bruises (in fights, he was too quick; too observant; too_ smart_), and when he did, they would never have as much force to cause his skin to turn such a dark color.

The question was on his lips, but he instead stared back at the unreadable problems scribbled on the board. That terrible feeling in his chest increased, and worry flowed over him in waves. He would never, ever asks though.

Luffy deserved privacy. They never questioned when he was missing for a few days. They never asked when he ended up in the hospital. They didn't even dare to wonder when Luffy stumbled into their houses, covered in blood and wanting to crash at their place for a few days.

All the pieces in his head started to fit together but Zoro didn't want to conclude anything. Zoro wouldn't, shouldn't, couldn't invade Luffy's life because of a stupid assumption. Putting all those thoughts in the back of his mind, he mulled over what he what the teacher was saying even if it made no sense. Because letting his thoughts wander would get him back to the same place, and he would much rather leave it alone. Because it wasn't his business, or place, to mull that over. Because Luffy wouldn't want him thinking that way.

And most of all, Zoro didn't want to know what those bruises meant.

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**Haha, I got bored. What do you guys think?**

**Currently, it's a one-shot, but if it becomes popular enough (and people tell me they want more) I would be more than happy to continue it. However, I doubt that it will so it's staying complete at the moment.**

**Hope you liked it!**

_**Edit: Offically multi-chapter~**_


	2. Sanji

Sanji was the only one that noticed. For how open and shameless Luffy seemed to be, they knew almost nothing about him.

He'd known the boy for nearly a decade, he should know more than that his favorite color was red and he liked meat. He _should_ fucking know more, and_ how the fuck _didn't he? Sanji had never even considered that Luffy was more than what he let the world see (what he let them, his friends_ see_), because Luffy was so _blunt_ and _honest_ and _how didn't he see this before?_

With disturbing clarity, he realized he didn't even know where the kid _lived_. Sure, he'd picked up the idiot in the geezer's old car dozens of times when the shit had the nerve to call him at fucking _three in the mornin_g, but never in the same place. He might be at the town park, or the local lake, or merely another eating facility. He might call at nine o'clock at night, or three in the morning, but he never seemed to hesitate.

As Sanji attempted to sleep that night and tried to forget, the thoughts still haunted his mind, one question going above all others: Why? And with one, came the others. Why was Luffy almost a stranger when Sanji had interacted with him since childhood? How didn't he notice? Why didn't_ anyone else_ notice? And with his mind so heavy, he almost didn't hear his cellphone's obnoxious ring. After letting it ring for a second or two, he sluggishly sat up feeling through the dark before his hand closed around the familiar metal. Annoyed, he put the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" he asked breathlessly, wanting to get this done as soon as possible as he was not exactly in the mood for a casual chat.

"Shitty cook," the gruff voice greeted fondl btu firmly. The words themselves was normal. But, Sanji was struck silent by the fact that the other sounded almost...relieved to speak with him, something that didnt happen very often at all. With no insults fired back by the blonde, the voice continued. "We need to talk. About Luffy."

Sanji couldn't agree more.

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**So yeah, you guys wanted it, you got it.**

**So yeah, pairings undecided, if any. What do you guys think? Romance or no? If romance, it will most likely be ZoLu, just saying. I might just make two separate versions, but that would slow down my writing a bit. Oh well...**


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